How do you pronounce mả cha mày?

mả cha mày is pronounced /[maː˧˩ caː˧˧ mɐi˨˩]/.

What is the English equivalent of mả cha mày?

The closest English equivalent of mả cha mày is "damn your father's grave / goddamn you".

mả cha mày

/[maː˧˩ caː˧˧ mɐi˨˩]/religious, familial, exclamation

What does mả cha mày mean? mả cha mày is a Vietnamese severe that translates to “damn your father's grave / goddamn you” in English.

Literal Translation

tomb father you

Meaning & Usage

"damn your father's grave / goddamn you"

An exclamation of extreme frustration that invokes the grave of the listener's father. Not an attack on the father, but swearing 'by the tomb'.

Examples in the Wild

Chasing a child who broke a vase: 'Mả cha mày, đứng lại đó!' (Damn your father's grave, stand right there!)

4/ 5

Severe. Severe. Not appropriate for professional settings or around strangers.

Cultural Context

Vandalizing or disrespecting ancestral tombs is a cardinal sin in Vietnamese culture. Invoking the tomb in an angry outburst brings intense existential weight to the curse. It's an older, more rural, or folksy curse, frequently used by exasperated parents toward wildly disobedient children. The fact that a parent would swear on the child's *father's* grave (the speaker's own husband or oneself) underlines the irrational heat of the moment.